Mother's helpers?

[frontierpsych]

Does anyone here have a Mother's helper? I was thinking of hiring one when DS gets a little older. Probably just one of the older neighbor kids (young teen?) who could keep an eye on Brodie while I clean up around the house, as it gets hard to do both. He/she would be watching him in my apartment for a few hours a few times a week, maybe after school or something.

Does anyone here do this? What are/would be your criteria for this position. I was a mother's helper when I was younger (9 or 10, though I think I might want someone a little older than that) and I had a lot of fun with it, and it's a nice way to make some spending money when you're too young for a "real" job.

[3pink1blue]

I do. I have a person who comes from 6 till 9 pm every night. I pay $75 per week and the help is invaluable. The person I have is 17 years old.

I chose our helper because they are great with the kids, non-smoking, and very responsible. I did a background check and checked their facebook and stuff too. I found mine on Craigslist and when I advertised I had at least 50 replies. Many of them had email addresses like ilove420 or jonasbrothers69 and i hate to say it this way but i automatically weeded those ones out. it doesn't show the level of maturity I was looking for.

[frontierpsych]

I wish I could afford that! I'm thinking more like 2 hours M W F. Just enough to keep my house from becoming a disaster area, lol!

[OkiMom]

I was debating doing this as well. I want to start working on sewing but I need some time without the two year old on top of me to do so. I was thinking of asking around at church to see if any of the young women there would be interested in it. That way I know them, I know their families and I know they are respectful/honest. Im really picky (my husband calls me paraniod) about who I allow in my apartment so I couldn't just place an ad to find one, it would have to be someone I knew/trusted.

[Super Glue Mommy]

we just hired someone who starts next week to come from 5:30 to 7:30 on the nights my husband works (because I REALLY need help during those hours, and DH can't do it) I get no help with anything at any other time, basically im paying someone to help me with what I think my DH should be helping with lol. Im hoping its only temporary while figure something else out, I could think of better things to spend that money on!

[BarnMomma]

Yes yes yes

I hired a mother's helped and it has saved my life.

Here's my story:

I love my DS and I want him with me. I was never one of those moms who needed ample alone time. If was was a away from DS, I missed him and rushed home.

But, as you can tell from my name, I'm a horse rider. My barn time was suffering when I had to rely on DH and family.

So I decided I needed help. I placed a craigslist ad that said MOTHERS HELPER (not babysitter) and made it very specific to say you will be coming WITH me places, not just left alone with DS or left alone doing errands. You need to be my extra set of hands. You MUST have excellent references and I will be checking.

After 4 attempts I found my girl!

Our schedule is this:

Monday: she comes at 8:00 and I rush to do laundry, clean house, do foos prep, erands I can't take DS on, like a dental cleaning. I'm home most of the time so she just plays with DSand I'm still there for naps and nusring and if he wants mommy. If he wants mommy, she takes over whatever task I was doing. Leaves around 1.

Tues: She meets me at our barn (rain or shine)and DS and her go on barn adventures while I ride. He plays with the tractors, runs around, visits the horses, etc. leaves around 12

Wed: Ditto

Fri: Barn and then back home to let me polish off whatever errands have built up. leaves around 1

What's great is if I feel like being with DS, she takes over the errands, or helps out, or whatever. We keep it flexible. It's a win, win. I don't have to be away from DS but I still have a sense of freedom...doing something I love, time to do what I need to.

I always check with her if she's OK with what the day might bring. I never just give her a list and say GO! Our relationship is great and DS loves her and never has to miss mommy.

We pay $15 an hour and it is worth every last cent!!!